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Big Shot on Campus, and Everywhere, After Buzzer-Beater

Khalil Edney enjoying the spotlight at New Rochelle High School.Credit
Yana Paskova for The New York Times

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. — In the 24 hours that followed the buzzer-beater turned international Internet sensation, Khalil Edney rode in a limousine, stayed overnight at a Manhattan hotel, conducted national television interviews, held a makeshift news conference and resumed the end of his usual routine — an anticlimactic high school basketball practice.

Life was different. Way different.

On Sunday, Edney was a 17-year-old star quarterback who moonlighted with the New Rochelle High School basketball team. He ranked second in scoring, but as a reserve, and an injured one at that, who nearly missed this particular playoff game with a bum ankle.

By Monday, he had become a new-age celebrity, a (young) man of the moment, sought after, in demand, and all because of one play that lasted a couple of seconds: a two-handed heave that traveled 55 or so feet and won New Rochelle a playoff contest. It became known simply and unoriginally as The Shot.

“That’s what the world’s calling it,” Khalil said.

The world? It certainly seemed that way. Edney went on three morning shows, including “Good Morning America,” on which his story followed one about the pope. He appeared on ESPN’s flagship program, “SportsCenter,” twice. He had an interview scheduled with CNN for Tuesday morning and one YouTube video of The Shot had already accumulated more than 1.4 million views by late afternoon.

This said less about the basketball player and his moment than it did about this era of modern sports. In a world driven and captured and analyzed on social media, the feedback is instant, often overdramatized. A high school playoff game can conclude in dramatic fashion in Westchester County, and word can spread across the country in a matter of minutes — the best shot ever, the best buzzer-beater ever, Facebook post after Facebook post Sunday with the same question:

Did you see The Shot?

“It’s amazing,” said Don Conetta, the principal at New Rochelle. “For all the things we do in education, this one-tenth-of-a-second shot is getting unbelievable attention from the world.”

The play itself almost defied description and belief: New Rochelle was losing, 60-58, to Mount Vernon, its counterpart in a rivalry that Mount Vernon usually dominated. All of 2.9 seconds remained in the Section 1 Class AA final. The outlook looked bleak.

Edney’s youngest brother turned to their father, Lewis Edney, in the stands and said, “Daddy, we do this all the time in the park.”

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New Rochelle High School students congratulate Khalil Edney, center, and his teammates.Credit
Yana Paskova for The New York Times

Coach Rasaun Young called for an inbounds play named Valpo, after the buzzer-beater that Bryce Drew made in the 1998 N.C.A.A. tournament to secure a first-round victory for Valparaiso. That buzzer-beater started with a long inbounds pass, followed by another, shorter pass to Drew on the right wing.

Young called for the same play. It did not unfold how he drew it up.

Edney took the ball along the baseline and heaved the ball down court, toward his teammate Joe Clarke, the same friend he connected with for a winning touchdown late in the state football semifinals. This pass, though, was intercepted by a Mount Vernon player, who could have held the ball or thrown it straight into the air, but who instead tossed it back toward Edney.

Edney had followed his initial throw upcourt. He says he is still not sure exactly why he did that, only that he did. He secured the ball thrown by the Mount Vernon player and in one motion pushed up the desperation heave.

The play-by-play announcer on MSG Varsity deftly switched gears, from “And Mount Vernon is going to hold on and win!” to “But hold on one second!” to a series of pure screams.

New Rochelle Athletic Director Steve Young sat behind the team bench. As he watched The Shot, he liked the trajectory, and he whispered, “This might go in.”

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It did, and bedlam ensued, first among Mount Vernon and its fans, who assumed the clock had run out before Edney got the shot off, then among New Rochelle and its supporters once the referees affirmed he had. Teammates piled on top of Edney. Fans streamed onto the court. A referee covered his head as the mob approached.

One teammate soon posted on Twitter, along with video of The Shot: “Prom date?”

On Monday afternoon, Young sat inside his office and considered this 24-hour period, as surreal as any he could remember. A newspaper rested on the desk, its headline “Long Shot Earns a Title.” Young had received some 50 phone calls, twice that many text messages and more than 20 news media requests.

He made sure to mention all that happened at New Rochelle this school year: the state football title, the national cheerleading championship, even a Super Bowl ring for Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, an alum. Rice spoke at a rally Saturday, attended the game and posted a picture of the scoreboard on Twitter afterward. The last time New Rochelle won a Section 1 basketball title was 2005, back when Rice was the point guard.

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Khalil Edney, whose mother died from cervical cancer in 2006, dedicated a tattoo to his mother. Of The Shot, his father, Lewis, said, “I thought his mother took it out of his hands and scored.”Credit
Yana Paskova for The New York Times

The Shot, well, it shot across the Internet, noted by Duke guard Seth Curry on Twitter with a “Wow!” and by Knicks guard J. R. Smith.

It meant more, though, to Edney, whose mother died from cervical cancer in 2006. At the news conference Monday, Edney spread his arms wide to show the “momma’s boy” tattoo, along with the date of her birth (right arm) and the day she died (left).

Edney’s father had sat behind the team bench, and when his son launched the ball, Lewis Edney said, “I thought his mother took it out of his hands and scored.”

He added, “At the end of the day, I think it was his mother watching over him.”

The improbable win sent New Rochelle to the state regional semifinals, the next game scheduled for Tuesday. Edney repeatedly said his news tour and newfound celebrity would not affect his play, or his team’s preparations for that contest, even if that seemed hard to fathom.

“It’s a great story,” Young said. “I hope, though, we can keep this in perspective. This is a great highlight. I just hope this isn’t the highlight of their lives.”

Edney, a senior, is set to play quarterback next fall at Dean College in Massachusetts. The events of the past two days would not affect those plans, he said.

Reporters continued to ask Edney if this represented a dream fulfilled. No, he answered. He could not have dreamed this in the first place.